Update on Ford Hemp car YouTube video post
Yesterday, I posted about the Ford Hemp car video on YouTube after getting a tip from Manu Sharma. Manu followed up with me and gently corrected me that he's a he, not a she. More germane to AutoblogGreen, Manu corrects some of the information he found, including the fact that the hemp plastic body on the car is actually 33 percent lighter than a comparable steel body would be (not 44 percent). Manu found the following in the December 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics:
"After twelve years of research, the Ford Motor Company has completed an experimental automobile with a plastic body. Although its design takes advantage of the properties of plastics, the streamline car does not differ greatly in appearance from its steel counterpart. The only steel in the hand-made body is found in the tubular welded frame on which are mounted 14 plastic panels, 3/16 inch thick. Composed of a mixture of farm crops and synthetic chemicals, the plastic is reported to withstand a blow 10 times as great as steel without denting. Even the windows and windshield are of plastic. The total weight of the plastic car is about 2,000 pounds, compared with 3,000 pounds for a steel automobile of the same size."
Lastly, here are some links on the hempmobile from Toronto Hemp, Drug Library and Marijuana Library.
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[Source: Popular Mechanics, Thanks again to Manu Sharma]
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